Illustrations for Fourteen Poems by C. P. Cavafy

The complete artist’s portfolio of thirteen etchings
Medium: Etching with aquatint on Crisbrook handmade paper
Year: 1966-67
Image: 35 x 22.4 cm (13 3/4 x 8 7/8 inches)
Sheet: 56.8 x 40.1 cm (22 3/8 x 15 3/4 inches)
Edition: 75 and 25 in Roman numerals on Vellum paper
Artist’s Proofs: 15 AP
Printers: Maurice Payne and Danyon Black
Publisher: Editions Alecto, London
Literature: Scottish Art Council (47-59), Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (47-59)

Signed, dated and numbered in pencil with the publisher’s ink stamp on verso

Hockney was introduced to the poetry of Constantine P. Cavafy through the writings of Lawrence Durrell. As an art student in 1960 he found an English edition of an anthology by the Greek poet in the public library in Bradford – the book was not on the shelves and only available upon request. Hockney never returned the book, as he later admitted. Cavafy was homosexual and many of his poems frankly and unashamedly celebrate ‘the beauty of deviate attractions’, as he put it in his poem In an old book. As early as 1961, when homosexual acts were still illegal in the U.K., Hockney had dealt with themes of gay love and desire. Yet in these early works the homosexual nature of the scenes was somewhat disguised and alleviated by the deliberately crude graffiti style and the irreverence of the images. For the Fourteen Poems Hockney chose a very different, representational style: his sparse, accurate lines are perfectly matched to the clarity and simplicity of Cavafy’s tone. Both Cavafy and Hockney in their respective medium maintained a sobriety and directness which removed the stigma and gave these scenes of gay love dignity and romance. Gently erotic rather than overtly sexual, the poems and the etchings are however very explicit in what they are about: physical desire and intimacy between young men.

The etchings were made in 1966 and came out in 1967, just as parliament passed the Sexual Offences Act, which finally de-criminalized homosexuality in England and Wales. The Cavafy etchings are Hockney’s gay manifesto, published at a time when homosexuality was still a highly controversial subject. Much later the artist described the etchings as ‘good propaganda’, yet they are intimate and personal rather than declamatory: ‘I wasn’t speaking for anybody else, but I would certainly defend my way of living.’ (D. Hockney in: A History of the World in a Hundred Objects, BBC, 2011.)

“I think I did 12 . . . 12 etchings. Some were drawn from life, some were drawn from my drawings, some were drawn from photographs. I was rather proud of it at the time, and yeah, I would have thought of it as good propaganda, I would. And [it] probably helped a little bit. And I would always defend my life as it were – what I was up to. I wasn’t speaking for anybody else, but I would certainly defend my way of living, yes. I’ve never really been an activist, only in my work – that’s my job, to do my work, not to spend it doing anything else. But if I played a little part in it, I’m proud. I might have done, I think . . . made people open their lives a little bit, perhaps. I’d like to think that.”

Illustrations for Fourteen Poems from C.P. Cavafy, was conceived almost entirely in terms of line, and contained some of the artist’s most accomplished line drawings to that date. He had made earlier references to the writings of the pre-war Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, 1961, contains a quotation from the last two lines of the poem ‘The Mirror in the Hall’, and A Grand Procession of Dignitaries in the Semi-Egyptian Style, 1961, was inspired by the poem ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’. But this was Hockney’s first major statement inspired by the poet. Although he originally intended to illustrate a far more ambitious range of poems, this proved impractical and he therefore decided only to include those on the subject of homosexual love. A new translation was produced by the poets Stephen Spender and Nikos Stangos, and published with the etchings in 1967.

In early 1966 Hockney went to Beirut, which he saw as the contemporary equivalent of Cavafy’s Alexandria, to research imagery for the prints. While taking inspiration from Cavafy’s poetry, Hockney also drew upon his own experiences and environment. For instance, his ink drawing Boys in Bed, Beirut (1966) (in fact drawn in London using two of his friends as models) was adapted for one of the prints, According to Prescriptions of Ancient Magicians. Photographs were also used as reference material, especially for such prints as In an Old Book and The Beginning, and the portraits of Cavafy – images he describes as ‘very posed’. Hockney was not entirely pleased with the results, however: ‘Things like weight and volume are very hard to get from a photograph. You don’t get the information you need to be able to do the line.

Hockney conceived the images, like the English texts, as an updated translation of Cavafy’s imagery. Portrait of Cavafy II depicts the poet in front of an architectural setting copied from a drawing Hockney made of a Beirut police station, with a modern car in the foreground. Only a few of the etchings (He Enquired After the Quality, The Shop Window of a Tobacco Store) depict a particular place or scene as described in the poems. Hockney did not work with the poems at his side, nor did he intend each image to be an illustration of a particular poem. Rather, he and Stangos assigned poems to the etchings only after the prints were done. Intended as visual equivalents to the mood and theme of all Cavafy’s homoerotic poetry, Hockney’s etchings depict variations on the theme of two men engaged in endless, anonymous pick-ups. Certain themes are found in the work of both Hockney and Cavafy: fleeting experiences, a nostalgia for the erotic, and a desire to be deeply involved in the lives of others while remaining a detached spectator.

(Excerpt from the text by Terry Riggs, Tate Modern, 1997).

#1. Two boys aged 23 or 24 (MCAT 47)

#2. The mirror at the entrance (MCAT 48)

#3. He enquired after the quality (MCAT 49)

#4. To remain (MCAT 50)

#5. According to prescriptions of ancient magicians (MCAT 51)

#6. In an old book (MCAT 52)

#7. The shop window of a tobacco store (MCAT 53)

#8. In the dull village (MCAT 54)

#9. The beginning (MCAT 55)

#10. One night (MCAT 56)

#11. In despair (MCAT 57)

#12. Beautiful and white flowers (MCAT 58)

#13. Portrait of Cavafy II (MCAT 59)

Auction Results

3. He enquired after the quality (MCAT 49)

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Bonhams online: 16 January 2025

Estimated: USD 2,000 – 4,000
USD 2,816

DAVID HOCKNEY (born 1937)

He Enquired After the Quality
Plate 3, from Illustration for 14 Poems by C.P. Cavafy (EA 460, MCAT 49, SAC 49), 1966
Etching and aquatint on Crisbrook handmade paper
Signed in pencil, dated and annotated ‘A.P.’
One of 15 artist’s proofs, aside from the edition of 75 and 24 in Roman numerals on Vellum paper

Phillips London: 21 September 2023
Estimated: GBP 3,000 – 5,000
GBP 2,540

DAVID HOCKNEY
He Enquired after the Quality
Plate 3 from Illustrations for 14 Poems by C.P. Cavafy (E. A. 460, S.A.C. 49, M.C.A.T. 49), 1966-7
Etching and aquatint on Crisbrook handmade paper
Signed, dated and annotated ‘A.P.’ in pencil
One of 15 artist’s proofs, the edition was 75 and 24 in Roman numerals on Vellum paper

#4. To remain (MCAT 50)

Stockholms Auktionsverk: 14 November 2023
Estimated: SEK 15,000 – 18,000
SEK 13,750 / USD 1,270

DAVID HOCKNEY (British, born 1937)
To Remain (Scottish Arts Council 50; M.C.A. Tokyo 50), 1966
From Illustrations for Fourteen Poems from C.P. Cavafy
Etching and aquatint on Crisbrook handmade paper
Signed, dated and annotated A.P.
An artist’s proof aside from the edition of 75

5. According to prescriptions of ancient magicians (MCAT 51)

Stockholms Auktionsverk: 14 November 2023
Estimated: SEK 40,000 – 50,000
SEK 37,500 / USD 3,460

DAVID HOCKNEY (British, born 1937)
According to Prescriptions of Ancient Magicians (Scottish Arts Council 51; M.C.A. Tokyo 51), 1966
From Illustrations for Fourteen Poems from C.P. Cavafy
Etching on Crisbrook handmade paper
Signed, dated and numbered 8/75 in pencil

Bonhams London: 20 September 2023
GBP 2,560

DAVID HOCKNEY (British, born 1937)
According to Prescriptions of Ancient Magicians (Scottish Arts Council 51; M.C.A. Tokyo 51), 1966
from Illustrations for Fourteen Poems from C.P. Cavafy
Etching on Crisbrook handmade paper
Signed, dated and numbered 46/75 in pencil

6. In an Old Book (MCAT 52)

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Christie’s online: 27 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 3,000 – 5,000
GBP 6,300 / USD 8,127

DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
In an old book, from: Illustrations for Fourteen Poems from C. P. Cavafy (MCAT 52), 1966
Etching on Crisbrook handmade wove paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 28/75 (there were also 15 artist’s proofs)

7. The shop window of a tobacco store (MCAT 53)

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Phillips London: 21 September 2023
Estimated: GBP 3,000 – 5,000
GBP 2,540 / USD 3,130

DAVID HOCKNEY
The Shop Window of a Tobacco Store
Plate 7 from Illustrations for 14 Poems by C.P. Cavafy (E.A. 464, S.A.C. 53, M.C.A.T. 53), 1966-7
Etching and aquatint on Crisbrook handmade paper
Signed, dated and annotated ‘A.P.’ in pencil
One of 15 artist’s proofs, the edition was 75 and 24 in Roman numerals on Vellum paper

8. In The Dull Village (MCAT 54)

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Christie’s online: 27 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 3,000 – 5,000
GBP 11,970 / USD 15,441

DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
In the dull Village, from: Illustrations for Fourteen Poems by C.P. Cavafy (MCAT 54), 1966
Etching on Crisbrook handmade wove paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 47/75 (there were also 15 artist’s proofs)

9. The beginning (MCAT 55)

Stockholms Auktionsverk: 14 November 2023
Estimated: SEK 40,000 – 50,000
SEK 45,000 / USD 4,150

12. Beautiful and white flowers (MCAT 58)

Bonhams London: 26 June 2024
Estimated: GBP 2,500 – 3,500
GBP 3,328 / USD 4,220

13. Portrait of Cavafy II (MCAT 59)